What Remained Unseen
by windlily
Summary: Inspired by Chapter 155. "Yamamoto said the same thing. And he also said many, many good things that he said not to tell Gokudera." Tsuna and Yamamoto discuss the crippling fight against Gamma.


_"I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don't believe I deserved my friends."_

_-Walt Whitman_

* * *

**What Remained Unseen**

* * *

"Oi! Reborn!"

Young Tsunayoshi paid no mind to the less-than-pleasant glares he received from complete strangers as he ran haphazardly down one of the many hallways of their so-called secret hideout, the hideout that he had supposedly created. The thought always made him feel smaller rather than larger. If he was supposed to be so great, than why had he woken up in a coffin? No. This was not the time to be thinking that way.

"Yup!"

"Yeah, that's r- Ack!" Tuna very nearly toppled over when his innermost thoughts were interrupted by the very infant who was the target of his search. "R-Reborn!" he choked, feeling that he should probably be more used to the tiny hit man's tendency to appear out of nowhere by now. "What do you mean by 'Yup'?"

"You wanted to ask if it was true that Yamamoto had woken up, right? So that's what I meant by 'Yup.'"

The brown haired middle school student turned mafia boss took a second to process this answer and immediately brightened, his reclusive smile making a beautiful comeback. Unwilling to waste any more time, he bolted toward the infirmary, Reborn hitching a ride by grasping the hem of his shirt.

When he'd heard Lal Mirch say that even the four of them together wouldn't stand a chance against the man called Gamma, he could already feel the worry and anxiety overtaking him in shivers. He had chosen to split into two groups for a reason, but he couldn't help feeling desolately responsible when they had arrived at the shrine just in time for Hibari-san to point out Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto broken and bleeding. Just knowing that at least one of them was once again awake was like having a one ton weight lifted from his shoulders.

He opened the door wide to see a grinning Yamamoto Takeshi, covered from head to foot in gauze and wrappings but somehow managing to be the same as always. "Mornin', Tsuna," he croaked without turning to look as if he'd known that Tsuna was the only person who could be on the other side of the door the whole time. But something about the familiar grin seemed strangely unfamiliar to the Tenth Vongola, and he frowned as he approached his friend's bed.

"It's … um … afternoon," he replied hesitantly, and the middle school baseball player's grin smoothed out into a grim smile.

"Right," he half-chuckled. "Hard to tell, bein' underground and all. How's Gokudera?"

The question was squeezed in at the end, almost as if Yamamoto didn't want Tsuna to hear it, let alone answer it. "He's … still unconscious," he replied, fidgeting as he shied away from his friend, the guilt accumulating uncomfortably in his gut again. Not that it had ever really left.

At this, however, Yamamoto managed to look even more sheepish, his smile unexpectedly growing in size while somehow loosing even more of that familiarity that Tsuna had so clung to. Something was very wrong. This was only confirmed when Yamamoto looked him right in the eye and said, "I'm sorry."

Tsuna didn't notice Reborn's almost nonexistent smirk as he hastily waved his hands in refusal. "There's no reason for you to be sorry! You just woke up, and-!"

"Tsuna." The boy ceased mid-sentence at his friend's determined tone. Somehow, Tsuna knew that if he tried to stop Yamamoto again, it would only make things worse. Even Yamamoto could be scary sometimes. "I couldn't do anything, Tsuna. We just kept taking hits. Even when I could move again, I wasn't even able to leave a scratch on him before he knocked me out cold. Here he was going on about _torture_, and I couldn't do a thing to stop him. I really thought…"

"Yamamoto…" The pain in his friend's eyes was not something he could stand to see. It didn't belong there, darn it. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

The baseball nut somehow managed a cheesy grin, even if it was a bit flimsy. "The moment I got here, people were already throwing crap at us, and they haven't stopped since. I wouldn't even be here if Gokudera hadn't figured out those ring boxes. But, even so, I still… I shouldn't have just stood by and let him go alone; I shouldn't have let down my guard. It's just been so … hectic, and I ended up losing it." He sighed, closing his eyes. "So … I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," Tsuna replied instantly, sensing that that was what Yamamoto needed most right then.

"That's good 'cause Gokudera never will," Yamamoto laughed, and somehow, someway, Tsuna couldn't help but smile as well.

Yamamoto Takeshi would be just fine.

"Yamamoto," called another voice, and the raven haired boy turned to face Reborn, cocking his head slightly to get a better view. "You said Gamma mentioned torture."

His grin flickered for just a moment before reinforcing itself with full force. "Yeah, I guess that guy wanted to know about Tsuna, but don't worry about it, kid. I know Gokudera would never say a word. He's Tsuna's right hand, after all, right?" And he laughed again as if at some inside joke that Tsuna may never understand. "Just don't tell him I said that, 'kay? Wouldn't want to over-stimulate his ego."

"Is that why you two were…?" Tsuna couldn't bring himself to finish the question, but both Yamamoto and Reborn seemed to understand anyway.

"I guess, but you shouldn't worry about that now," the baseball player affirmed with a renewed vigor that Tsuna couldn't imagine. "We're not dead, right? So if I'm up, you can bet Gokudera will be running around with us in no time at all. You should probably go visit him, hn? He might be waking up right now."

"R-Right!" Tsuna nodded. "I'm really glad you're okay." Yamamoto only laughed again, and this prompted Tsuna to say one last thing before he left.

"Thank you, Yamamoto."

"Eh? For what?" he chuckled

Tsuna smiled and bowed before leaving him alone again. He deserved all the rest he could get. And as he walked toward Gokudera-kun's room, Reborn's supportive silence only seemed to reaffirm everything Yamamoto had said.

Nothing had changed. They were still stuck in a horrible future; they were still in a race for their lives; Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun were still injured. But just knowing that his friends were still there gave him the strength he needed to take the last few steps to Gokudera-kun's room, open the door to his still, silent body, and sit by the bed to wait.

Because Gokudera-kun was going to wake up just like Yamamoto had. And he already knew that even ten years later they would never leave his side, even if he wasn't around in the future to see it.

* * *

To Good Health and Good Friends


End file.
